Who we are

I’ve always objected to the term, ‘the environment’. The environment is something apart; it has its own subject in school, its own section in bookshops, its own governmental department. It suggests a backdrop for humans, a stage set for our business. What it does not begin to convey is the living intelligence within trees, rocks, plants and water, within the very air we breathe, within the lions, the elephants and the stars, within the earth, the sun and the moon, within a curled up woodlouse, within us.

Reading some of the letters of support for the water protectors, I am moved by how the Apache former chairman, Wendsler Nosie Sr writes to Dave Archambault, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe:

‘For us, Oak Flat, known to us as Chi’chil Bildagoteel has always been our connection to our Mother, our right to exist, a central part of our prayers, songs, stories and spiritual practices. It is from here that we emerged. It is who we are.’

It is this love and total connection to our Mother, the understanding that we are part of nature, which inspires me. That, along with the wise, brave commitment to remaining peaceful. It is what has called me to go out to Standing Rock.

As the police in North Dakota turn tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons onto the activists at Standing Rock, as the injuries escalate, as the silence in the press deafens, as the lack of response from President Obama stuns, this peaceful response is, I am certain, all the more vital.

It makes me think of a time when I said no to a bully a few years ago. I was faced with threats and lies, blackmail and a court case. As someone who really dislikes conflict, this was severely testing. My way through this was to aim to be the person I wanted to be, to be brave, even if I was terrified, to sort out my affairs as best as I could so that I was beyond the reach of blackmail, and to behave as impeccably as I knew how in response to what felt like grenades being thrown in my path. It truly stretched me.

The peaceful response requires strength and patience. But most of all, it is an effective way. I think of Gandhi and the Independence of India. I think of the persistence of the suffragists, including my own great grandmother, MAM, and how they brought the vote to women in Britain, and I think of Rosa Parks who refused to stand for a white passenger on the bus. The peaceful way worked for them and it worked for me too.

I hope and pray with all my heart that it works for the water, for the land and the people of Standing Rock. I hope it works for us all.